The Block Articles in excess of 15,300 reads
The heartbroken buyer, who followed the rules, was the winning bidder only to be cheated out of it. Every Saturday Melbourne buyers ask, what more could they have done. Above the quote, above the reserve, highest bidder, followed the CAV and the auctioneer read out rules and they didn’t [...]

STOP PRESS 9.00PM SUNDAY NIGHT
Congrats to Josh and Elyse, great win on The Block and well done to all the other contestants.
I like watching The Block Grand Finale normally – but
Are you serious Scott, CAV, Frank and Nicole?
Was I watching a real show or Hollywood (where there are no rules)?
If there are no rules, what [...]

G’day and welcome back to James Market News. Hope you all had a break from the Melbourne winter!
My break was with my youngest daughter, Maddie, in the Top End at Fitzroy Crossing, Kakadu and Kooljaman, Cape Leveque. Aboriginal people know a lot more about land and its value than many of us “new migrants”.
Hard to believe it’s been [...]

Welcome to Part 1, of the James Big 3 Reports on the changes in the $2M+ inner Melbourne market. In Part 1, we discuss the first change, under quoting.
Parts 2 and 3 will be published in the coming weeks.
On May 1st 2017, we will hopefully be entering a new era; one that will make our [...]

It’s James Market News Lite on this special day, today.
Today it was hard to believe what we saw, all over the Inner Melbourne auction scene.
It was incredible.
Overseas bidders from China were not actually putting offers in on homes, without FIRB approval and a number of negative gearing buyers who owned between 10 and 20 homes, had decided to [...]

Welcome to our 2016 Bumper Christmas Edition.
In this, our last article for 2016 – the key to good sex, nothing about that American bloke and a segment on how to get $70,000 for free every year.
Plenty of positives, but apologies we don’t seem to have any fake news!
And to the Inner Melbourne Market.
Wow, what a finish [...]

(Above and below) 160 people witnessed this architectural masterpiece (working from a low base to a state of brilliance – Steve Domoney Architecture) sell under the hammer for $4,160,000. James Tostevin and 3 bidders. Google our James Home Rating – 2a Harcourt Street, Hawthorn East to read our detailed thoughts.
Excuse me what did I read above, James Bidderman 3, James [...]

Has Spring Arrived Early?
It felt hot out there today and indeed we felt the build-up during the last week or so.
Today we bought 2 at competitive auctions (low $1m’s and low $3m’s) bought at Off-market circa $4m, missed at one of the longest bidding auctions I’ve been to (at the mid $2m’s) and during the [...]

It’s been an interesting year in the Inner North, especially in the second half of the year following in the traditional mid-year hiatus. This year had the Federal Election added in to the mix, and this played on the minds of potential sellers as they held out for a political outcome before listing. All the [...]

Right now just as a stretching buyer has to ask the question: Am I buying a price or am I buying the property, so all sellers are now being asked that perplexing question by the market: are you selling a property or are you selling a price? Big difference in strategies!
BUT, and it’s a big [...]

At 6pm on Saturday, the James $M+ Clearance Rate was 72% across the 25 auctions we attended. The Weekly Review Bidderman was 1.6 bidders per auction.
Welcome back! So, what do we have now? – What’s been happening? – Where is the market at? – What’s in front of us?
This week was really about brushing off [...]

It’s on the market at $1,550,000, it’s sold under the hammer at auction for $1,990,000. Only it is not.
Three times this year we have bought properties for LESS than what the home either cost, was sold under the hammer or was passed-in at auction.
Hawthorn East: In the first instance we bought a home in Hawthorn [...]

We live in an Information Age.
In our fast-paced environment, how can we discriminate the good from the bad in the information-saturated Melbourne property market right now?
At James Buyer Advocates, when we produce a full value rating, we look at hundreds of pieces of information.
We split them into 3 categories.
Facts – such as a sale price
Opinions [...]

At 6pm on Saturday, the James Clearance Rate for $M+ properties in Melbourne was 55% on the 29 auctions we attended. We covered around half the $M+ auctions this weekend. May is looking very lean for auctions and today was almost a non event auction wise
The Weekly Review Bidderman, our demand indicator, was 1.2 bidders [...]

Buyer Testimonial

Having little to no knowledge of the property market in Melbourne, I decided that getting a buyer's advocate was my best option to ensure I didn't get taken for a ride. Mal James did more than just ensure I got the best deal.. He gave me invaluable tips about price estimation of land in my selected area: the floor plan; land price / size ratio; what to look for in terms of investments; best places to look; and the style of h...